New Tappan Zee Bridge hailed as a jobs creator

Thruway chief sees big benefit for businesses

POUGHKEEPSIE — The executive director of the New York State Thruway Authority predicted Wednesday that construction of the new $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge will create thousands of jobs and benefit hundreds of businesses throughout the Hudson Valley before it is completed in 2018.

Tappan Zee Constructors, the company that will build the new, $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge, is holding business-to-business fairs next week.

The first will run from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesd...

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TZB business fairs

Tappan Zee Constructors, the company that will build the new, $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge, is holding business-to-business fairs next week.

The first will run from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown and the second will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon Wednesday at the Crowne Plaza in Suffern.

Details about how to get work on the Tappan Zee Bridge project are posted at tappanzeeconstructors.com.

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POUGHKEEPSIE — The executive director of the New York State Thruway Authority predicted Wednesday that construction of the new $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge will create thousands of jobs and benefit hundreds of businesses throughout the Hudson Valley before it is completed in 2018.

"This is going to be the largest infrastructure project in North America, not just in the United States," said Thomas Madison in a presentation to the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The breakfast drew about 300 people to the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel.

Madison said the authority, which expected bids to be as much as $5.4 billion, got lucky in that the ultimately successful bidder had "a secret weapon" that substantially lowered its cost.

The weapon is an immense crane known as the Left Coast Lifter that the member companies of Tappan Zee Constructors had designed and built for their work on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

The crane, which has a boom of 328 feet and is capable of lifting 1,800 tons — or, as Madison said, 12 Statues of Liberty — is now en route to New York.

The Left Coast Lifter won't take its place until next spring, but dozens of smaller cranes and barges will be visible in the Hudson as the year progresses.

Madison said the authority also invested $20 million in soil testing to give prospective bidders real-time information about what they could expect to find on the river bottom — the biggest element of risk in calculating their costs.

"This allowed them to sharpen their pencils and give us their best price," said Madison.

The authority still is relying on a low-interest federal loan of up to 33 percent of eligible costs and toll revenue to finance construction.

The loan is not yet a done deal, but Madison said his staff is meeting with the Federal Highway Administration again next week to determine what qualifies as "eligible."

Denise VanBuren of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp., the master of ceremonies for the breakfast, thanked Madison with a framed painting the chamber had commissioned of "a beautiful bridge of our own" — the Mid-Hudson Bridge and the adjacent Walkway Over the Hudson.